I Became a Disaster-Class Sorcery Genius

Salvation Society (What It Used to Be) (3)

"I'll pack this... and I'll need this too."

After waking up in the morning, Kim Dojun immediately began preparations to raid the Salvation Society, then got in a taxi bound for Gangneung.

'As written even in 'Demon Realm of Tiger's Dread', the Salvation Society's smuggling route is through the East Sea.'

But that was only their smuggling route—he knew exactly where the Salvation Society was hiding.

'The place where the Salvation Society is actually hiding is the abandoned village in Gangneung.'

He remembered precisely where and how his first encounter with the smuggled-in Salvation Society happened.

'First, the ones I need to deal with are the Salvation Society's 'Swords'.'

Inside the taxi racing down the highway, he calmly checked his plan in his mind.

'The ones who smuggled in are easy to deal with, but the ones mixed with ordinary cult members could be a bit of a nuisance.'

Basically, the ordinary cultists of the Salvation Society used what they called spiritual power—sorcery—but it took a long time to cast, so they'd be easy to deal with even if there were many.

However—

The Swords were different.

They were the main strength of the Salvation Society, known as the Eight Swords, a step right below the leader, according to the rules of the Sorcery Killing Technique.

It would have been fine if there were only one or two, but facing several at once would be a bit of a hassle.

These guys used 'Hell(奈落)', a form of sorcery wielded by Gatura of Salvation.

'If it's just Pleasure, the necklace will block it on its own.'

Unfortunately, the Hell(奈落) that Gatura of Salvation uses wasn't a kind of sorcery that Kim Dojun's necklace could block.

Of course, even Gatura of Salvation needs some time to cast Hell, so the Swords also took a long time to cast their sorceries.

Still, the reason he was still wary was because of the cultists who would charge him alongside the Swords.

'These bastards don't even care about their own lives.'

And maybe because it was a cult that believed in Gatura of Salvation, when there were cultists nearby, the Swords would sometimes use them for human sacrifice, which overwhelmingly shortened the casting time of their sorcery!

'And even if I deal with all of them, the leader remains.'

The leader of the Salvation Society.

He wasn't classified with a specific rank in the Sorcery Killing Technique, but at the very least, the stage in the game where you had to face the leader of the Salvation Society was incredibly tricky.

'That bastard, when in danger, not only gambles his own life but those of the followers, awakening himself.'

If the leader awakens that way, Kim Dojun would have to run for about three minutes just to survive.

The awakened leader would become absurdly powerful, rampaging with utterly broken sorceries.

'Of course, after that berserk state, three minutes later his body would disintegrate into pieces and he'd die just like that.'

Anyway, there were a few things to watch out for, so Kim Dojun had to plan in detail this time.

In conclusion, whether for better or worse, it benefited both Kim Dojun and the world to handle the Salvation Society ahead of time.

They were a group of madmen who had absolutely no fear of death, so if they found purpose, they would treat their own lives as lightly as flies, even committing suicide bombings without hesitation.

And not just that: it would be one thing if they only risked their own lives, but for the sake of some higher cause, the Salvation Society would sometimes treat others' lives like flies and perform dirty sacrificial rituals.

'Well, to be honest, the main reason is that all the really necessary spiritual tools are there.'

So thought Kim Dojun again as he stared out the taxi window, watching the scenery pass by.

After about two hours,

"Is this it?"

He arrived at the abandoned village in Gangneung.

Just like the place he'd seen in Hongcheon, there were broken roads everywhere, and houses so old that they looked ready to collapse at any time.

But, with just a glance around, Kim Dojun no longer gave any attention to the other abandoned houses; instead, he searched for a building nearby that was painted red on the outside.

"Found it."

Before long, he spotted the house he was after among the ruins and headed straight over.

Creakkkk—!

Without hesitation, he opened the door, whose old hinges screeched, and made his way deep inside.

"...."

The moment he stepped over the threshold, the smell of old mold hit him.

Unfazed, he moved farther inside the abandoned house, wandering from room to room, searching his surroundings.

After a while—

"This must be it."

He found in a built-in closet a door leading underground and let out a big sigh.

As he expected, he would now have to battle the five Swords who had smuggled into Korea.

Composed, Kim Dojun carefully opened the closet door and began to descend.

'I need to deal with at least three of them as soon as I go down.'

With that thought, as soon as he descended into the dimly lit basement—

"Gasp!"

He moved quickly, dashing out in an instant.

Right after,

"... What the?"

Looking at the five corpses with their heads blown open, he found himself momentarily dumbfounded.

####
Kim Dojun was bewildered.

And for good reason—there were dead bodies in front of him with their heads blown apart.

And killed in an extremely brutal fashion, at that.

'What the heck?'

He cautiously inspected the corpses.

Judging by their clothes, these were definitely the Salvation Society's Swords.

Which meant this place really was the Society's hideout, and that he had come to the right place.

'And there are five of them....'

Since that matched the number of Swords he knew, he observed the corpses more closely.

'... Every single one of them had their hands destroyed.'

He soon realized all the Swords' hands were utterly smashed, but just from that, he couldn't figure out what had happened.

All he could deduce was that the Swords' hands had been targeted first, and whoever did this knew how to deal with sorcerers.

"...."

After staring at the Swords' corpses for a while, Kim Dojun stepped forward.

'They should have it on them.'

He began searching the bodies.

And soon—

"Found it."

He found in the folds of one of the corpses a charm with a green background.

Covered with something so complex that, as someone just beginning to learn sorcery, Kim Dojun couldn't make heads or tails of it.

"This is it?"

What he needed wasn't to dispose of these Swords, but this charm.

It was a charm that, as long as a specific sorcery formation was drawn anywhere, would transfer whatever was inside the sorcery formation to the Salvation Society's headquarters.

'Well, as long as I have this, it's fine.'

His original goal was to wipe out the Salvation Society completely.

Just taking out the smuggled Swords wouldn't cripple the Society, and more importantly, what he was after was the spiritual tool he could obtain from the leader.

Thinking it through, the current situation wasn't all that bad for Kim Dojun.

After all, someone else had basically done what he needed to do.

'The only issue is, I have no idea who did this....'

Kim Dojun shrugged, ending the thought.

No point racking his brain here as to who pulled this off; there was no answer to be found.

'Worry about it later: focus on the goal for now.'

He looked at the green charm.

A green charm covered in completely unreadable words.

"...."

Of course, Kim Dojun had no idea how to use this charm.

He was still only just learning basic sorcery, so that was natural.

But instead, Kim Dojun smiled.

'I came prepared for this.'

From his sorcery pouch, he pulled out Haram's pen.

----
Honor Student Haram's Pen.
Grade: Top tier.
Effect: Once a month, you can receive correct answers to ten questions, limited to knowledge Haram possesses.
----

He hadn't used this pen since the last rampaging spirit incident, as nothing had come up.

Recalling its power, Kim Dojun opened a notebook he'd brought in advance and immediately began drawing the green charm.

After spending some time sketching the charm, he wrote under the drawing—

'Write down the method of using this charm, along with the necessary sorcery formation.'

—that question.

Then, as Kim Dojun put down, then picked up Haram's pen again,

"Oh."

Swish—!

The pen began to move on its own, borrowing Kim Dojun's hand to write out the answer.

Before long, Kim Dojun received a perfect response.

"Nice."

Kim Dojun smiled as he looked at the sorcery formation drawn in his notebook.

Following the directions he'd obtained, he began drawing the sorcery formation on a section of the floor.

A little while later—

"... Shit."

Kim Dojun looked at what he'd drawn and was dumbstruck.

What he'd sketched on the floor was so messy that you wouldn't believe even a child had drawn it.

'I really am terrible at drawing.'

He looked back and forth between the answer sheet and the chaotic drawing on the floor, giving a wry chuckle—but only for a moment.

"It's not working...."

On the off chance, he tried putting the charm on top, but as expected, nothing happened. Sighing, he grabbed the chalk rolling on the floor and tried again.

After ten minutes—

"Ah."

Thirty minutes—

"Damn...!"

... One hour later.

"It—It's working!"

After pouring nearly an hour into it, drawing the sorcery formation on almost every patch of floor nearby, Kim Dojun—

Woom—!

—finally managed to create a sorcery formation that properly responded to the charm.

Standing at the center, Kim Dojun threw the chalk far away, placed the charm, and, wearing a confident smile, began to channel spiritual power into it.

Wooooom—!

As he pushed his spiritual power into it, the charm emitted something like a mechanical humming noise, and instantly ignited.

Fwoooosh!

The spiritual power in the green light that burst from the flaming charm began flowing into the sorcery formation.

Bwaaaaaah—!

With it exploded a wave of light.

Kim Dojun, knowing from prior knowledge that this meant the charm and the sorcery formation had activated successfully, calmly closed his eyes.

'After the summoning, I'll be in front of the Salvation Society's building. Smash the pillars of the annex building immediately, then head for the main building where the leader is and fight. The ones in white veils will be the 'Swords', so I'll take them down on sight—'

He began calmly reviewing his next moves in his mind.

Then—

BWAAAAAAAHH—!!

Even with his eyes shut, he felt the light piercing through and realized the teleportation had succeeded.

Pop!

He opened his eyes, raised his fist, and looked at the Salvation Society's annex building.

"...?"

Once again, he could only wear a foolish expression.

"... What?"

The annex building he'd planned to smash to pieces was already gloriously demolished.

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